Turnbuckle



W. E. SULLIVAN.

TUR'NBUCKLE.

vAPPLICATION FILED.MAR. 9| 1922.

Patented June 20, 1922'.

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Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J [111e 20, 1922.

Application jled March 9, 1922. Serial No. 542,332.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. SULLIVAN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Jacksonville, county of Morgan, State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in-Turnbuckles, of which the 'following is a sp'ecication.

This invention relates to tensioning means of general application for tightening rods, cables and the like, as in connection with circus paraphernalia and various temporary frame devices and including heavy knockdown structures and vehicles. More specifically the invention relates to turnbuckles and the like.

Turnbuckles of ordinary form are subject to certain limitations and inconveniences, as for instance, on heavy work a wrench is usually necessary to turn the link. Moreover the threaded members or stub ends and also the link have to be made rather long in order to take up the slack and stretch, especially if the cable is long. If many turnbuckles have to be set a large amount of time and labor are involved.

The main objects of the invention are to provide a quick acting take-up means of improved form for eliminating the slack in cables and the like; to provide a turnbuckle of the character described lhaving a leverage take-up member or folding joint mechanism; to provide a turn buckle of this character adapted for operation in the usual manner, that is by screw adjustment, to attain an initial orr preliminary degree of tension and corresponding setting, and by leverage action adapted for quick operation to throw full tension upon the member` to be drawn taut, and adapted for reverse operation in loosening; and to provide in such a deviceV coacting jaw members arranged to receive the full tension of the device andso relieve the take-up lever when the device is set.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: i

Figure l is an edgevvise view of the turnbuckle with the leverage part in its drawn up or shortened position.

. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof. Y j

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 with the leverage part in its opened or elongated position.

. Fig. lfv is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Y

In the construction shown in the drawings "the take-up device is in the form of a turnbuckle having a lever embodied in the link member. The take-up as a whole comprises mainly a hook stub end l, an eye 4stub end 2, a lever 3 and a special form of split link consisting of a pair of hook-like jaws l operatively Iconnected by said lever and having the stub ends l and 2 screw connected to their outer ends as at 5. The lever 3 is pivotally connected, as at the points 6, to both jaws. The jaw members are of U- shape with the threaded perforation 5 at the bend and with a hook at the end of each arm, said hooks being similar, and turned in the same direction, with a bearing shoulder 7 in a plane about perpendicular to the main axis of the turnbuckle. The pivots are formed integrally on the innermost tips of the jaws, as well shown in Fig. 3, and pro-- ject outwardly to receive the correspondingly apertured ends of the U-shaped lever 3. In order to render the connection secure and permanentthe-tips of the pivots 6 are riveted or spun over, as shownY in Fig. 4.

The jaw hooks are each formed with a tip substantially in alinement with the shank of the corresponding arm and with the adjacent part bent out of alinement and to provide the seat 7 which is to receive the corresponding tip of the coacting jaw when the leverage mechanism is set in its take-up; position.

In order to provide for free passage of the jaw tips past eachother in locking and unlocking, and for positive mutual bearing of the jaw shoulders 7 on each other in stable tension relation when the device is set in its take-up position I secure the necessary-clearance byforging each hinge pivot on the eX- treme corner of the corresponding jaw tip away from the seat 7, and I arrange the two apertures 6 on each arm of the lever 3 somewhat out of alinement with the main body or shank of said lever, so that when the handle part of the lever is pulled back to its effective position it will snap past the critical point and permit the javvl shoulders 7 to meet squarely in load carrying position. In order to assure full release of pressure on the pivots when the jawsv are set, the bend of the lever is bowed sidewise somewhat at l8 so as to let Athe long arm or handle of the lever swing inward far enough to carry the pivots 6y well .Y past the main axis or tension line of the device, and so permit'the shoulders 7 to come together. f Y l Y The aws may be drop forged if desired and Vfinished alike in a jig and the ends threaded right and'left handed respectively.

This turnbuckle takes the place of a standard turnbuckle, being the same length Vwhen locked and takes the same size of.

threaded ends or stubs.`

All sizes can be made interchangeable with the standard turnbuckl'es commonly in use. This turnbuckle is used Vespecially in the construction of Ferris wheels and the like. They are used in the bracing and torsion members of the wheel. The hook stub hooks in the steel part of the wheel and Va small wire cable with a hook attached to the end hooks into the eye end of the turnbuckle. It will be seen that in taking down the wheel it is important to take it down in the shortest possible space of time and erect it the same way. l find that by making these cablesall in jigs so that they have exactly the same space left for the turnbuckle that the turnbuckles can all be made alike and,

thereforathey are all interchangeable. To illustrate, in taking down a certain standard wheel, there are forty-eight turnbuckles to take out of the different bracing cables and none of theseY turnbuckles need to be unscrewed to take them out as the present turnbuckle must be. The old turnbuckle must be unscrewed until. thehook will. unhook from the steel member to which it is fastened, and as the wire cables spring more or less that requires more unscrewing. lVith this buckle the lever can be thrown over and the buckle expands an inch' and a half, which allows it to unhook at once and does not change the threads or the length of the buckle. VThen when the operator wishes uto re-erect, his cables are all the same length and the turnbuckles all the same length. Then the turnbuckles can be hooked in any space and when the lever is turned over, locking the buckles together, the cables are not only tightened to any tightness desired but the wheel automatically becomes true just as it was when set up before. This practically avoids all trueing up, but if trueing up is needed instead of having to turn the turnbuckle with a wrench or pin, the lever can be thrown over relieving the strain and the turnbuckle very readily turned to the desired tension and the lever pulled downv making the proper adjustment. This is much more rapid than the old turnbuckle, and infact in putting' in forty-eight Yturnbuckles it saves'a great deal of'time.

This turnbuckle is a great timeand labor saver not only in erecting or taking down a Ferris wheel but for practically all portable riding devices; merry-go-rounds of all kinds; circle swings of all kinds; the whip, the frolic, and many other portable riding devices. This turnbuckle can also be used to great advantage in aeroplanes or airships when they are taken down to be moved or shipped in cars and reassembled again.

Although but one specific embodimentv of this invention is herein shown and described, it will be understood that numerous details of the construction shown may bealtered or omitted without departing from the spirit. of this invention as delined by the following claims. Y

I claim:

1. A self locking turnbuckle comprising a pair of threaded stub ends' and a split link to the respective parts of which said stub ends are secured, said link comprising Y a pair of coacting jaw members and a lever operatively connected to said jaw members to engage and disengage the latter.

2. A self locking tension take-up device' comprising a pair of hook members having coacting jaw shoulders, in combination with a lever pivotally connected to the tips of said jaw shoulders and arranged for snapping past the main tension axis when forced to its effective position to throw said shoulders into bearing engagement.

. 8. A tension take-up device comprising a pair of hook members having coacting jaw shoulders disposed about squarely across the main axisof said device, in combination with a lever pivotally connected to the tips of said jaw shoulders and arranged for snapping past the main tension axis when the device is drawn taut to throw said shoulders into bearing engagement.`

Ll. A self locking, quick acting turnbuokle including a pair of complementary coacting hook members each provided with pivots.'

receive the pivots lin operative relation whereby the hook members mayy be pulled together and the hook bearing shioulders thrown into mutual engagement to relieve thesaid pivots.

6. In a Vtension take-up, device of the character described a pair of hooks each having a long shank and a short cross shoulder to serve as a hoop part, in combination wlth 130 a lever having a short arm and a long arm, the short arm being pivoted at its ends to the .tips of said shoulders respectively, and the long arm having means to prevent its free end from swinging inward past the shank of the hook to the tip of which the inner pivot is connected, said lever being arranged for its long arm to swing down around the back of the last mentioned hook l0 for relaxing the device.

vice for tension members comprising a turnbuckle having a tvvo-section link7 in combination with a Ueshaped lever having the outer ends of its arms pivoted each to the correspending adjacent parts of the link sections in operative take-up relation and arranged Jfor snap over action as the lever is swung past its critical point.

Signed at Jacksonville this sixth day of March 1922.

WILLIAM E; SULLIVAN. 

